I’ve spent a little bit of time in what I’d call a spotlight

I’ve knocked on the door and entered a room too tight

I’ve felt eyeballs scan me up and down

I’ve been subsequently labeled, “Too young” and “too skinny”

“Not a real doctor”

“Oh, you cut your hair”

Cut-throat remarks aplenty, under a judgmental stare

When I’ve tried so hard to be smart and pretty

But I’m getting to a place in my life where I wonder why I’ve bothered

Attributing weight to what other people say

The malicious words that roll thoughtlessly out of strangers’ brains

My skin’s either too pale

Or my ankles sunburnt

They’ve made comments about my pants and shirt

As if I’m some cotton or polyester

I “must be a runner”

I wish people would get it together

I “must be a vegetarian”

I must be eating “rabbit food”

I’d rather say I’m a contrarian

At 35, I’m no longer in the mood

You know what got me thinking about all this

One of my favorite authors herself released a tirade

Of how others have said some mean things

About the shape of her body in what she was wearing

To the point she starved herself and induced her own sickness

She was overwhelmed by their thoughts

Suffered panic attacks just over a few inches

One day she decided to let it all go

To accept herself, to cut her hair short because she wanted to

To wear a bikini because it was what she wanted to do

I hope she knows

Her story sharing has helped me

She’s a best-selling author – and simply about just how to be – YOU

I’ve realized something else that’s true

We could be Halle Berry

Or Taylor swift

Or Caitlin Clark

People would be even more amiss

They’d hurl insults all the more dark

Which is why we must write, and act, and sing, and shoot

Who cares if onlookers say we’re inferior and not cute

Beauty and strength are interior

Live your life in whatever light

The fluorescents, the fireworks, the cameras, the stadiums, the offices

It’s all evanescence

The critics and gremlins aren’t our bosses

Be you – as you were created to be

Shine on in beauty, confidently